Case in Ann Arbor: Midwest should be home to next wave of tech startups

Steve Case, the former chairman and CEO of AOL, made his case why the Midwest should be home to the next wave of tech startups. Case was at Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor on Wednesday as part of his annual Rise of the Rest bus tour.

Former AOL CEO Steve Case visits Ann Arbor

Stop to bring national awareness to the region's startups

Bus tour visited several of Ann Arbor's most successful startups

Steve Case, the former chairman and CEO of AOL, made his case Wednesday in Ann Arbor for why the Midwest should be home to the next wave of tech startups.

Case, as part of his sixth annual bus tour called Rise of the Rest to raise awareness for startups, spoke to reporters and local venture capitalists about the importance of telling the stories of Southeast Michigan's startups.

Case said 75 percent of all venture capital investments happen in three states: California, New York and Massachusetts. Michigan, he said, has a story to tell and he wants to increase awareness of the work happening here.

"There's a humility in these cities," Case said alongside Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor. "Fifty-five percent of venture capital (dollars) in Michigan comes to Ann Arbor, but Michigan only gets 1 percent of national venture capital. We need to attract more media attention; take it to the next level."

Case will be joined by Quicken Loans Inc. Chairman Dan Gilbert, author J.D. Vance and Google's Director of Global Entrepreneur Outreach Mary Grove this afternoon for a chat at Michigan Theater. The event will end with a $100,000 startup pitch competition.

This year's tour has already visited three cities in Pennsylvania and will continue to Indianapolis; Columbus, Ohio; and Green Bay, Wis., later this month.

The Rise of the Rest tour kicked off in Detroit in 2014, which Case said was the original home of entrepreneurship.

"Detroit should serve as a reminder that these things rise and fall; Detroit stopped building its entrepreneurs and we saw what happened," he said. "The best way to prevent that and to be vibrant in 25 years is to invest in startups today."